Equality Commission for Northern Ireland. Communications Report. July September 2016

Transcription

1 Media coverage Equality Commission for Northern Ireland Communications Report July September 2016 The Commission and its work featured in 78 pieces of print coverage this quarter, and there were 49 pieces of broadcast coverage. Although there was a slight fall in print coverage by six from last quarter it still shows an overall upward trend when considered alongside 49 pieces of broadcast coverage, up 34 from last quarter. Chart Press and broadcast by volume, Q to Q press broadcast Linear (press) Considering the top three stories from each month, it is clear that the publicity around legal cases generated the majority of coverage. Chart 2 Top stories Q2 volume and % of coverage WIBNI awards 3 11 Gender Pay Gap 3 7 Belfast Pride 3 7 McCreesh Park 4 11 Black woman v pregnancy McCreesh Park July Daly & Lewis v AFBI McKeevers v KFC % total no of clippings 1

2 Chart Top stories Q2 tone of coverage pos % neutral % neg It is also clear that the legal cases in particular fed into exceptionally high levels of positive coverage. Around 54% of all coverage was proactively placed this quarter, an increase of 105% on Q1 and a return to more normal levels. Chart Q Proactivity Q Q Q Q Q1 16- Q % proactive print % proactive b'cast Chart 5 Publication breakdown Q dailies weeklies Sundays TV 14 radio magazine The local daily papers accounted for 34% of all coverage this quarter. The Irish News carried 17 articles, the News Letter 16 and the Belfast Telegraph 10. 2

3 Local weekly papers accounted for under a quarter of all press coverage, and broadcast for 41%, up from 17% last month. The nine most prominent stories in the media are set out below. McKeevers v KFC: Publicity about this settled case accounted for 55% of all media coverage in the month of August. There were 24 pieces of coverage, five print and 19 broadcast, exposing the story to almost two million readers and viewers. The press release was well used in newspaper coverage and Evelyn Collins spoke on behalf of the Commission on radio and television, both live and pre-recorded. The Irish News devoted the paper s editorial column to the case and its ramifications. The coverage of the case was 100% positive, with 58% of it ranked significant positive. Evelyn Collins featured in ten of the pieces of coverage. Daly & Lewis v AFBI: Publicity about this settled case accounted for 27% of all media coverage in the month of July. There were 15 pieces of press and broadcast coverage, including the front page of the News Letter, an item in the Irish Times and a full page in the Daily Mirror. The press release was well used in newspaper coverage and Eileen Lavery spoke on behalf of the Commission on radio and television, both live and pre-recorded and was featured in 10 of the media items. We were helped by a number of factors the size of the settlement ( 47,500), a good set of photographs and our claimants, two cooperative and articulate women who dealt well with the media interest. T The coverage of the case was 100% positive, with 80% of it ranked significant positive. McCreesh Park July statement: 14 pieces of coverage resulted from the announcement of our decision to rescind the decision about the naming of the park, accounting for 25% of the month s press and broadcast coverage. This is the first time that coverage of this issue had been so positive; the previous quarter coverage of this story was uniformly negative. Coverage overall is rated at 86% positive. Of the nine press clippings, most quoted directly from the press release. Michael Wardlow was quoted in three press pieces and also did a prerecorded interview on the issue. 3

4 There was a second tranche of coverage of the McCreesh Park issue in September. Accounting 27% of print media items in October, of which 75% was positive. There were four pieces of coverage in Armagh and Down local papers. Three of the pieces contained no criticism of the Commission. The fourth, carried on the front page and page 3 of the Newry Reporter, was strongly negative. Pregnancy discrimination cases: The cases of Sarah Shilliday, Cherie White and Kelly McAtamney generated 12 pieces of coverage (1 print and 11 broadcast) which accounted for 44% of total volume for September. The story ran for one day but featured widely on radio, television and the Belfast Telegraph. The Telegraph article used the press release but majored on the involvement of the IFA as one of the employers/respondents. The 11 broadcast items also drew on the press release and most included an interview with Eileen Lavery. Overall, broadcast items reached a potential (OTS) audience of 803,000, of which UTV offered 229,000, 29% of the broadcast media total. The longest item was a live interview by Eileen Lavery on Radio Ulster s Good Morning Ulster. The tone of the coverage of the cases was 100% positive and 50% was rated significant positive, reflecting the prominence given to the Commission in coverage. Eileen Lavery featured in ten of the pieces of coverage. Black woman v Home Office: This case, publicised in July, generated 16% of the total volume for the month, nine pieces of coverage five print and four broadcast. This was carried in the three local dailies and the Daily Mirror and in broadcast news items. Print coverage drew heavily on the press release and the quotes from our claimant and Michael Wardlow. In addition to three print mentions, Michael Wardlow also did four broadcast items, mostly for news and speech radio, but also an extended interview on the Stephen Nolan Show. 100% of the coverage was positive and 88% was rated significant positive. This did really well on Twitter. Our own tweet and our retweet of the Nolan Show audio boom of the Chief Commissioner s interview created 4

5 a total of 2,056 impressions. There were also original tweets linking to the case from the Belfast Telegraph and the Law Society. The case was also quoted during a recent Assembly debate on Racial Equality in Northern Ireland on 11 October Belfast Pride: Three pieces of print coverage resulted from the Chief Commissioner s statement of support for Belfast Pride, issued the day before the main Pride parade. While it accounted for 7% of the volume of press coverage, it accounted for 9% of the total PR value in August because it featured in all the high value daily papers the Belfast Telegraph, Irish News and News Letter. The press release was quoted directly and at length. Michael Wardlow was quoted in all three press pieces. Coverage of this issue is rated at 100% positive, with 66% rated Prime Positive. Gender Pay Gap: The Chief Commissioner Michael Wardlow responded to the Institute for Fiscal Studies report on the Gender Pay Gap in the UK as a whole. 7% of volume for the month and 15% of the total PR value for August for its three broadcast items on Radio Ulster, U105 and UTV. 100% of the coverage was positive and 88% was rated significant positive. The Chief Commissioner participated in all three items. His participation in a lengthy debate on the gender pay gap on Talkback garnered 64% of the broadcast media total on this issue and had the highest opportunities to see figure of 87,000. WIBNI Awards: There were three print items about the Women in Business awards, all in the Irish News which sponsors the event. Because it is a regional daily, the OTS were high at 465,000. The tone of the coverage was 100% positive, but passing positive as the Commission was given only a passing reference. One of the articles mentioned that Evelyn Collins would be on the judging panel for the awards. International Day of Peace: Also worthy of note in September was the Chief Commissioner s appearance on Radio Ulster s Talkback, discussing International Peace Day. It was a lengthy interview which generated 22% of the total PR value for the month. Website There were over 16,000 unique users visiting the site over 22,000 times, viewing over 72,000 pages. This represented a downturn when compared to the previous quarter of approximately 14% fewer visitors 5

6 making 15% less visits to the website. However, when compared to the same period last year, the number of visitors and number of visits rose by approximately 5% and 6% respectively. The website enjoyed two peaks of traffic over this period (18 Aug and 21 Sept) which corresponded with the release of two ezines aimed at stakeholders and employers. These featured supported legal cases ( Belfast sisters settle sexual harassment cases for 30k and Agri body pays 47,500 in sex discrimination settlements ), information about managing bullying and harassment in the workplace, and the launch of new employer training sessions for September-January which encouraged over 1,000 visits to the website. Summaries of supported legal cases for were uploaded to the website during this quarter. They became the most popular downloads over this period with almost 1,000 cases being viewed, and the Fair Employment monitoring form and guidance was the most download publication with 263 clicks. Development work continues on the website. A new Google powered search engine has now been integrated into the Commission s website which has significantly improved the site s search results and will make the site much more user friendly for visitors. Work is ongoing to streamline existing content, remove older publications and refine and develop sections of the website. Ezine The Commission issued eight ezines during this period and an ezine invitation to a STEM event. These included specific editions for employers and service providers, public authorities, the race sector and general stakeholders. The readership for these was 17% with a clickthrough rate (CTR) of 21.5%, both slightly up on last quarter (16% and 20%). However, the public sector edition which included new guidance on conducting 5 year reviews of equality schemes enjoyed a healthy 41% click through rate. The most popular topics over this period included a feature for employers on managing bullying and harassment in the workplace, especially the publication Promoting a Good and Harmonious Working Environment, and publication of reviews on screening and equality impact assessments for public authorities. The Employer Training 6

7 Programme continued to be well received especially the new sessions advertised for Sept January. Following the trend of previous ezines there was significant sharing of ezines by those who received them. The ezine on the Commission s response to PfG Framework Consultation was viewed multiple times by the Women s Resource and Development Agency, NICCY and the Executive Office. The ezine on Every Customer Counts - promoting accessible services in the public sector was shared extensively within the Dept of Health, Strategic Investment Board and the Consumer Council. Other editions were viewed numerous times by North Down Community Network, Unison, Lindsay Cars, Community Foundation NI, and Allen Overy International Law. Social Media Twitter: As of 30 Sept, we have 4,654 followers on Twitter. In Q2 we issued 217 tweets, which earned a total of 173,700 engagements, including 5,265 visits to our Twitter profile and 160 mentions. Of the top 20 tweets this quarter in terms of number of engagements, the most engaging subject was the 40th anniversary of the SDO. SoMe Twitter followers increased by 12% in the period August September (from 891 to 997), with an average engagement rate of 1.3%. Facebook fans increased by 7.5% (from 1138 to 1224). Linked In: We started using Linked In as a means of communication with business at the end of July, using mostly stories culminated from our Advice and Compliance work. Followers have gone up from 332 to 361 on 30 September, a rise of 9% over the quarter. Stakeholder Engagement Senior level engagement: The Chief Commissioner spoke at the Belfast Mela on 28 August and at an event in Stormont with representatives of the CERD Panel on 12 September. The Chief Commissioner had a series of meetings during the period, including meetings with the recently appointed Older Persons Commissioner Eddie Lynch on 4 July and representatives from Conradh na gaeilge on 3 August

8 The Chief Executive attended the opening of the new QUB Law School, at which the First Minister and Deputy First Minister spoke as well as Lord Kerr of Tonaghmore. The Chief Executive participated in the British Irish Association conference on 9-11 September in Oxford. She also attended an Equal Rights Trust award event for Professor Anna Lawson, a discrimination law expert. Political Engagement: The NI Assembly was in summer recess from July until mid-september, and this was a quiet time as there were no debates and only a few Committee meetings during this time. Assembly Questions: A number of AQS were answered during the period and ECNI was directly mentioned in answers to the following written Assembly questions: AQ AQW 774/16-21 AQW 2022/16-21 AQW 2290/16-21 AQW 2290/16-21 AQW 3057/16-21 Date Answered Asked BY Party Topic 1 July Mr Steven Green Party Disability Agnew NI Access to Private Taxis 15 July Mrs Naomi Alliance Party Disability Long Discrimination 29 July Mr Andy Allen UUP Welfare payments 1 Sept Mr Andy Allen UUP Disability Living Allowance 23 Sept Mr Robin UUP Early Years Swann Funding Applications Meetings: The Chief Commissioner and Chief Commissioner held a number of meetings with politicians and members of local political parties: The Chief Commissioner and Chief Executive met with the Minister of Education, Mr Peter Weir, MLA (11 Aug) and they both attended the Equality and Good Relations Forum at Newry, Mourne and Down District Council on 15 September 2016, further to the Commission s decision to rescind its decision on the naming of McCreesh Park. The Chief Commissioner and Officers met Paula Bradshaw, MLA, Alliance regarding her Private Members Bill on Flying Flags on Street Furniture (21 September). 8

9 The Chief Executive and officers met with Sinn Féin policy representatives on 16 August in relation to a range of issues, including the effective application of the S75 duties. Public engagement and outreach SoMe LGB outreach: The focus of our LGB outreach during August and September was participation in the annual Pride events Belfast (Aug), Foyle (Aug) and Newry (Sept). As well as participating in the Parade days, staff attended launch events, photo opportunities and advice events which provided opportunities raise awareness of the Commission and people s rights as well as to get content for use on social media. The SoMe Facebook and Twitter experienced significant spikes around Belfast and Newry Pride days in particular. Mela 2016: Belfast Mela was very well attended and the number of people, particularly those from the BME community, visiting our stand increased this year. The Chief Commissioner once again addressed the crowds and was joined on the platform and for the event parade by Commissioner Hazel Francey. Feedback from Freshers events 2016: The Commission had a presence at 25 Freshers events this year (18 in 2015). Events were used to promote awareness of rights and the Commission generally, resources such as our website and the DYMM resource for students/young people, the various outreach programmes, and our SoMe social media channels and corporate Twitter. This year we were invited to take part in a Queen s University Welcome Day during Freshers targeted at BME and overseas students. Race stakeholder engagement & outreach: As part of our programme of outreach to BME support groups, staff met with the following race sector organisations during August/September: North West Migrants Forum ACSONI (African &Caribbean Support Organisations NI) Belfast Islamic Centre South Belfast Round Table Omagh Ethnic Communities Support Group. 9

10 Disability stakeholder engagement & outreach: Meetings were held with: North West Forum of People with Disabilities Omnibus Partnership Mencap Alzheimers Society Orchardville Society. 10